How to export your sales history from Lightspeed Restaurant
7 min read
In the Lightspeed Restaurant (K-Series) Back Office, open Reports > All reports > Product Mix Report, pick a date range with the calendar icon, then click Export and choose the Mac or Windows file format to download a CSV. One export totals the whole selected range, so a monthly history means one export per calendar month, combined with a month column. Multi-location groups can use the Consolidated Products Report instead. This guide covers the path, the columns that matter for demand, and a worked example of the combined file.
Export the Product Mix Report
- Log in to the Lightspeed Restaurant Back Office.
- From the navigation menu, select Reports > All reports.
- Click Product Mix Report in the Sales Reports section.
- Click the calendar icon and choose the range of days you want, for example the first to the last day of one month.
- Optionally narrow the report from the Filters drop-down (order profile, accounting group, device, staff, shift, or tags), then click Apply.
- Click Export, select the file format that matches the computer you will open it on (Mac or Windows), and click Export to download the CSV.
Those menu names and steps are documented by Lightspeed for the K-Series product. Lightspeed also documents that the export respects the report's date range and filters, and that it includes every column, not only the ones currently shown on screen. Hiding columns with Edit table changes the on-screen view, not the file.
The columns that matter for demand
Lightspeed lists the report's columns, including Item name, Accounting group, Quantity, Sales (tax incl.), Tax, Sales (tax excl.), Costs, and several count columns. For a unit-demand history, the column to keep is Quantity: the number of items sold on the POS. Money columns are useful for a sanity check, but a forecast of what to order needs units.
| Column (as Lightspeed names it) | What Lightspeed says it is | Use in your file |
|---|---|---|
| Item name | Name as it appears in the Back Office and on the POS | Product identity; keep it consistent month to month. |
| Quantity | Number of items sold on the POS | The demand series. This is the column to keep. |
| Sales (tax excl.) | Sales including tax minus tax | Optional money-side check; not unit demand. |
| Loss quantity | Number of items marked as wastage | Not sales; review separately if you track waste. |
| Returned quantity | Items returned to the kitchen or bar | Decide once whether to net these off, then do it the same way every month. |
| Offered quantity | Items given away | Consumed stock, not sales; note it if giveaways are common. |
Column labels in your downloaded file may differ slightly from the on-screen names. Open the CSV and check its own headings before reshaping it. In this guide, quantity column means the column that corresponds to Quantity on screen.
Combos deserve one decision up front. Lightspeed shows a symbol next to a combo's name that lists the items sold inside it. Decide whether you forecast the combo as one product or the items within it, and keep that choice for every month, so a sale is not counted twice.
Build monthly history from range totals
Each Product Mix export is one total per item for the selected range. A range that spans three months gives you one three-month total, not three monthly figures. To get monthly history, export once per calendar month with the calendar set to that month's first and last day, then combine the files in one spreadsheet with a month column, matching the same item across files.
Here is a small illustrative example. Suppose the January export shows 64 units for Fish Tacos and 31 for Caesar Salad; February shows 58 and 35; March shows 70 and 33. Fish Tacos total 64 + 58 + 70 = 192 units over the three months; Caesar Salad totals 31 + 35 + 33 = 99. These figures are assumed illustrative values, not measured restaurant results.
| Item | Jan 2026 (units) | Feb 2026 (units) | Mar 2026 (units) | Three-month check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fish Tacos | 64 | 58 | 70 | 64 + 58 + 70 = 192 |
| Caesar Salad | 31 | 35 | 33 | 31 + 35 + 33 = 99 |
Wide form (one row per item, one column per month) and long form (item, month, quantity) both work. Keep the month explicit either way. Leave a month empty only when the item genuinely was not on the menu; use zero when it was available and nothing sold. A forecast reads those two cases differently.
More than one location
Lightspeed's Consolidated Products Report breaks down product sales across all your locations. It is under Reports > All reports in the Locations Report section. To export it, set the time period, click Export CSV, choose Mac, PC, or Manual Configuration, and click Export. Use it when you order centrally for a group; use each location's own Product Mix Report when each kitchen orders for itself.
Upload the file to StocksSense
The StocksSense homepage instant preview accepts a sales CSV. The full importer accepts CSV and Excel workbooks and maps columns into product and monthly sales fields; check the mapped rows before submitting. A sales CSV export works from any POS; catalog sync with a supported POS is available when enabled for your account.
For a product overview, the How it works page linked below walks through the whole flow. If you also use Toast at another site, the Toast guide linked below covers that report. The same preparation principle applies to both: keep item identity stable, use the quantity series, and label every month clearly.